When paraphrasing, which practice is essential?

• A. Preserve the original wording exactly.
• B. Use excessive quotes to avoid paraphrase.
• C. Use your own words and maintain meaning with proper citation.
• D. Change the meaning to fit your argument.

Answer: (C)

Paraphrasing is about restating someone else’s ideas in your own words while preserving the original meaning and giving proper credit. The best practice is to use your own words and maintain meaning with proper citation. This shows you understand the source and can present its ideas in your own voice, while still directing readers to the original work through a citation. Even when you reword, you must attribute the idea to the source to avoid plagiarism and to demonstrate you engaged with the material. Copying exact wording isn’t paraphrasing and signals a lack of original synthesis; relying on excessive quotes defeats the goal of showing your own understanding. Conversely, changing the meaning to fit your argument is misleading and unethical because it distorts the source. For example, if a source notes that supply chain disruptions slowed economic recovery, a good paraphrase would capture that idea in a new construction—along with a citation—without copying the original phrasing.